Mind Your Own Business!
by Lasagnii
Summary: Who cares that he finds himself being kissed breathless by soft, insistent lips? That his stomach starts feeling all fluttery when that bastard comes around? Who cares that he just might be talking about Laxus of all people? It's not like it's anybody else's business, what he's doing in his free time. [High school AU]
1. Chapter 1

My first chaptered fic! I hope everyone is in character and that you enjoy the story :D

* * *

It's six in the morning and Natsu is unquestionably dying. His head is in Lucy's lap, the blonde running her fingers through his hair, nails lightly scratching his scalp, as she texts Levy about some weird romance book the two are obsessed with at the moment.

"We wouldn't have to take the train if you would just wake up earlier, Natsu." The girl tells him absentmindedly.

Is she really scolding him? Now? Doesn't she know he'll puke on her purely out of spite? Luckily for her, she's got a great best friend who settles for merely drooling on her (although that's not even on purpose).

"Wha- Natsu!" She shouts, hurriedly tucking a handkerchief under the mess of a boy's face. Lucy scowls down at him with her eyebrows furrowed. "You're so gross."

He replies with nonsensical babbling.

The blonde's attention is then snagged by the ping of her cell phone. She lets out a squeal and she begins tapping furiously. She probably has that weird little smile on her face with sparkles in her eyes or whatever. Her cheeks are probably that light pink-they get like that after she's been laughing for a while too. He squints his eyes open, looking up at her.

Bingo.

He was right, but of course, he was. Lucy is his best friend after all. He knows everything about her.

Natsu is feeling pretty smug until the train lurches and he's immediately dying again.

* * *

Transportation sucked.

Natsu bursts into class with a few other stragglers, luckily the teacher wasn't there yet. Students were sitting on desks or crowded around one another. He clumsily slides into his seat next to Gray, knocking into him only to get pushed back in the opposite direction which sends him toppling onto the floor.

"What _the hell_ -"

"Natsu! You were nearly marked as tardy, that's the third time this week." Erza interrupts, scolding him from her desk a few seats up.

What is this pick on Natsu day?

"It's Lucy's fault," he protests. "After I dropped her off at her class she turned into a beast and tried to kill me." He explains, wondering how they hadn't heard her enraged scream of "What do you mean you burned my notes?!" He was sure it had echoed all across the school.

In hindsight, she should have known better than to trust him with such important papers.

Gray snorts, raising a brow." What did you do to her?" His uniform shirt was already unbuttoned and would undoubtedly be gone by the end of class. This was great for Juvia who was seated a few desks away and peeking at him every now and then, her cheeks a light pink.

"Burned her notes again."

"I hope she beats you up next period." A light voice quips and the pink haired male whirls around only to see Lisanna. He frowns, looking like she betrayed him and his entire family.

"Gi hi hi," Gajeel snickers from his spot on Juvia's desk. "I'm gonna record it."

"Ah? You wanna go? I'll kick both of your asses!"

"Like hell, you will,"

There's a moment of silence before Gajeel is tackled and Juvia's chair is yanked back just in time to dodge a wild elbow. It's Cana, looking incredibly tired, but she gives a little grin when Juvia quietly thanks her. The two girls watch as they tumble to the ground, grappling at each other and trying to get the upper hand.

Lisanna bursts into giggles as she cheers for the both of them, switching accordingly when it looks like the opposite is winning. The fight catches the attention of a few classmates who easily go back to what they were doing.

Just those idiots making a ruckus as usual.

Gray shakes his head in vague amusement, unconsciously beginning to unbutton his pants. "School's just starting, and you guys are already this energetic."

"Shut up, Gray! You're next!" Natsu shouts as he struggles to get out of the headlock Gajeel had him in. During his attempt to perform a backwards headbutt he flails around wildly, catching an unusual scent coming from the long-haired male. Not that he was just randomly smelling people- this was his friend! Besides even if he was what were they gonna do about it? He only noticed because it was so familiar, but he couldn't place it. He scowls trying to figure out what it was. Did he start using a new soap or something-

" _Ack_!" He almost forgot he was getting choked out for a second there.

He's snatched completely out of his thoughts when Erza stands up with her hands on her hips. Her eyes are narrowed, and her voice is as commanding as ever." Quiet down and get back to your seats everyone, class is starting!"

Natsu is quick to pipe up with an "Aye~", tapping the muscled arm around his neck in defeat. However, Gajeel clicks his tongue, muttering "You're not the boss a' me."

"What? Is there a problem?" Erza tilts her head, long hair shifting with her movement. Gajeel stares into her soulless eyes stubbornly, feeling sweat forming on the back of his neck.

He lets Natsu go.

He takes his seat.

Finally, class begins.

—

Watching Bunny girl's pristine boot fly towards Salamander's head was simultaneously the highlight of his day and the worst decision he's ever made. (Well, on that day)

This one action triggered absolute chaos.

How? The impact of the kick sent Natsu flying into Lisanna. Which meant Elfman appearing seemingly out of thin air to protect his sister's manliness. A few misplaced punches and you've got yourself a hallway brawl.

Anyway, that's how he finds himself in the principal's office with a sore jaw and some bruised knuckles. Along the way, he'd somehow lost his headband which sucked because he really liked that one.

Next to him is a disheveled Lucy, who has the decency to look ashamed. She's dragging her fingers through her wild blonde hair, trying to mold it back into some type of tameness and not appearing like she just woke up from a wild night out.

Or like she just got jumped, either or really.

Next to her is Mirajane, who hadn't even been involved. At least she hadn't been involved in throwing punches, unfortunately, she had caught quite a few of them.

Gajeel side eyes the bruise on her forehead.

 _Definitely_ caught a few of them.

And finally, there was Principal Dreyar with a cheerful grin on his wrinkled face as he stands in front of them. "Well, quite a surprise seeing you three here together." He sounds amused, which makes Lucy perk up, a hopeful look on her face.

Poor first-timer doesn't even know what's coming next. He doesn't know how she avoided being in the office for this long, like look at who her friends are.

Gajeel sniffs, he's been in here enough times to know that smile is nothing but trouble.

* * *

They get 3 days of detention!

Well, detention plus what would be considered community service. But at least cleaning the gym was one of the easier punishments. He remembers when he'd gotten caught skipping class and he was forced to help some lowerclassmen get more adjusted to the school.

Interacting with people in a friendly manner.

It was hell.

Gajeel shudders at the thought, easily maneuvering through the crowded halls. Principal Makarov had been blabbering about his troubles as an old man and how he couldn't 'get down like he used to'. Nothing related to them fighting whatsoever but his words had been a punishment in itself. The amount of relief he felt when the lunch bell went off and they were released was unexplainable.

Another thing that was unexplainable was Mirajane walking next to him like they were all buddy-buddy.

Bunny girl was there as well. The two were talking about what had just transpired, the blonde asking if getting in trouble was always like that. He snorts and doesn't even get to respond-not that he was gonna in the first place- because she answers her own question.

He merely grunts and takes advantage of the fact that he has longer legs.

"Huh? Mira, is he getting farther away?"

—

His attempt to get away from them fails because he somehow ends up sitting with the two of them as well as a few others. To be more specific it was the ones who had been involved in the fight but had split as soon as they had seen Gildarts crashing through the other students. He's pretty sure he saw the teacher landing a few hits as well.

Gajeel stares longingly at his dark table across the cafeteria.

"We were already together, why not eat lunch with your friends for once?" Lucy grins at him, eyebrows raised and cheeks a happy pink, "you can go back to your oh-so-scary table tomorrow." She teases.

He turns his gaze to the blonde and frowns at her. "Bold of you to assume we're friends."

Her smile falters and she rolls her eyes. "You're so mean Gajeel." She huffs and reaches for her sweet bun. Her fingers hit the bottom of her lunchbox and she squawks in indignation.

"My food! Are you serious Natsu?"

This was another reason he sat at his table.

These fuckers were much too loud and sometimes a guy just wanted to eat his food quietly while thinking about his cat.

Speaking of his cat he glances at the pink haired boy. Natsu was laughing as Lucy tried to shove him off the bench.

"Oi, Salamander, Wendy wants to know if you're still bringing your weak ass cat over today." It was no secret that the two of them had playdates for their cats every weekend and the other boy attempted to devour everything that was in their fridge.

"Of course, I'm bringing Happy over! And he isn't weak your cat is just grossly muscular, what'd you do to get him that big?" Natsu complains, lower lip jutting out in a pout at Gajeels words and Lucy still trying to push him off the bench.

Gajeel smirks, the smugness just rolling off of him. Salamander wishes he could have a cat like Lily.

"I feed him other cats."

Gray pauses in his eating and frowns bothered by the information he was forced to hear. He doubts that it's actually true but the serious expression on Gajeel's face made it hard to determine if he really was joking.

Gajeel notices him looking and bares his teeth, much like an animal.

Disturbing.

The shirtless boy shakes his head and continues eating.

Gajeel turns his attention elsewhere when Gray finally looks away like the weak beta male he is. Soon after he notices that Mira was staring at him, had been for the past- he glances up at the clock on the wall – five minutes. She had this contemplative look on her face, her crystal blue eyes darting from his chest to his face every now and then. She wasn't the type to go looking for a fight, but she had been looking five minutes too long and Gajeel, however, was the type. His ruby gaze slides over to her.

"See somethin' you like?" He leers.

Mira blinks and her lips curl into a pleasant smile.

"You look very nice today, Gajeel! I was just trying to figure out what band that was on your shirt." She giggles, sounding like tinkling bells. It only serves to make him scowl even more. The hell was she laughing at?

He takes a quick glance at his outfit, steadfastly ignoring the faint blush on his cheeks. (he didn't look nice, he looked badass.) It's a long sleeved burgundy colored t-shirt, kinda baggy, with the band name clearly printed on the front and if he's being honest, he has no idea where he even got the shirt from, he doesn't even know the band. Then there are his black jeans and his combat boots. He's entirely out of uniform.

Nonetheless, he squints at her," you can't read?" He asks bluntly. "Shit's right there."

There's a vague gesture to his chest.

Mirajane bats her eyelashes and tilts her head before her eyes widen a bit. He absentmindedly notices the way her little ponytail bounces with her movements.

"Oh my! There it is right there, I'm so silly." She giggles again seeming so amused, the sound makes him uneasy. "I couldn't see it with all the designs overlapping each other."

Gajeel merely scowls at her and nods briskly. He was always thrown off by her bubbly character and the way that shit could just flip to her being downright wicked.

Not that he was scared of her or nothin'.

He chugs his can of soda and is just about to go dump his tray when he hears her voice again.

"You know," she begins," _Laxus_ likes that band too, I think he has the same shirt."

There's a little smile on her face and he doesn't like the way she said that. Putting way too much emphasis on that guy's name like it was supposed to mean something.

He clicks his tongue, mildly annoyed and slightly confused. Who cares about that big blonde bastard and what shitty bands he likes. Gajeel side-eyes her before he makes a hasty retreat right out of the cafeteria, knocking his shoulder into someone, barely sparing them a glance only seeing a flash of black hair as he stomps away.

—

"A shrimp? In my halls?" Gajeel taunts loudly, enjoying the immediate look of dismay on the short girl's face. He'd spotted the familiar head of blue hair after roaming the halls for a bit, waiting for the end of the lunch break. She was putting up a poster, something about the 'after school festivities'. He snorts seeing how low it was placed on the wall. He was surprised to see her alone, her man servants nowhere to be found. In fact, there was barely anyone in the hall, everyone either staying in class or still in the cafeteria.

"More likely than you think!" His mouth was open but that hadn't been his voice. Gajeel's nose scrunches up and he looks around until he spots Lisanna walks past him laughing.

"Nice one Gajeel." She gives him a thumbs up with a cheerful little grin.

He glowers at the back of her head, these Strauss siblings were getting entirely too comfortable interacting with him. Next thing he'd know he'd have Elfman yapping in his ear about manliness.

He needed to fix that immediately.

"Fuck off!"

It's not his best but the way she turns around to look at him, eyes wide and eyebrows furrowed in offense, reveals that maybe it was good enough. Her previous thumbs up changes and he finds himself being aggressively thumbed down.

He flips her off in response.

"Was that really necessary?" Gajeel looks over at Levy who had her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.

"Wouldn't have done it if it wasn't." He tells her gruffly.

She shakes her head looking begrudgingly amused like she just saw a child do something inappropriate but just funny enough that they avoided punishment.

"What are you doing out here anyway? You're normally one of the stragglers." She glances at him curiously.

He shrugs," Switchin ' things up."

"Hm." Levy purses her lips, "really? That's not like you. You're not really the spontaneous type." She teases and signals him to follow her with a little wave.

Gajeels rolls his eyes, "Tch. You don't know shit. I'm hella' spontaneous."

The blue haired girl laughs at his grumbling as she moves onto the next hall.

After being roped into helping Levy put up the rest of the posters (crookedly at that) the two spent the remaining lunch period near the cafeteria doors. Levy was waiting for Lucy and Gajeel, well, Gajeel didn't really know why he was waiting around.

He glances about, the halls still deserted. This was actually the perfect time to go duck off into the bathrooms.

He didn't really feel like going to his next class.

The short girl is in the midst of spewing out names he didn't know and situations he didn't really care about. He believes it was about a show or a book. Either way, he pushes off of the wall they had been comfortably leaning against and gives a curt," bye."

"And they definitely,-Oh!" Levy frowns at his audacity, crossing her arms as she watches him walk off.

Just as that happens the bell rings, and students start filling the halls. That rude jerk becomes less visible until it's just a sea of faces.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, tell me what you think or even what I could do better!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Uhh hope evryone is in character and its kinda all over the place but I hope you enjoy reading! :D**

* * *

Navigating through the crowded halls is easy, slipping into the bathroom unnoticed by an administrator is even easier. There are a few people inside already. They look younger than him, around Wendy's age. They're probably first years. None of them are familiar so he glares, ruby colored eyes and piercings intimidating the few who'd looked towards the door curiously. Gajeel slips into a stall and pulls out his cell phone.

Class was about an hour and a half long but the halls cleared around 30 minutes in. After that, it would be free game for him to wander the halls (normally he'd just head back home but his damn father took a day off from work.) His headphones are tangled and one of the earbuds are missing. With a scowl he rummages in his pocket for the other bud, listening to the sound of the door shutting and footsteps leaving out.

He eventually gets his shit together and finally begins watching the metal welding video he had been saving for when he had free time. He has a slow descent to watching meme videos. He's not sure how because after the welding video he ended up watching clips of Forged in Fire. Luckily he's pulled out of the sound of screaming and oddly intense music by a text message popping up over the video.

 **Juvia** : _Have you gone home early? Are you okay?_

Ah, he forgot he had that class with Juvia. Gajeel clicks his tongue and shoots her a quick text back,

 **im fine ill see u in last period**

 **Juvia** : _Skipping is bad :(_

 **texting in class is bad :(**

 **send me a pic of the notes later on**

 **Juvia** : _:( :( :( :( :(_

 **juvia no**

 **Juvia** : _:( :( :(_

 **Juvia** : _Lol ofc I will Gajeel_

 **thanks**

His gaze flicks to the time up in the corner and he smirks a bit, just in time. Double thanks to Juvia.

After moving his headphones from his ears he stuffs them back in his pocket. No doubt they were going to be tangled up the next time he tried to use them. With a little grunt, he gets to his feet and leaves out of the bathroom and to the quiet halls.

* * *

Sometimes skipping is crazily boring but it's better than going to class and being forced to do work. He peeks into classrooms every now and then. His pierced brows raise a bit when he sees Bixlow and Evergreen in a class. He's managed to get on the senior hall without even noticing. Gajeel ignores the way his heartbeat speeds up and how he starts looking for a specific face when he continues passing classrooms. He feels a tinge of annoyance when he doesn't see the dumb bastard anywhere.

Then suddenly there's a tug on his hair, it's light and makes his head jerk back slightly. Gajeel quickly whirls around, ready to curse the idiot that touched him to hell and back. " _What the fuck_ -" His vicious words get caught in his throat when his gaze meets a broad chest( a familiar broad chest at that.) His gaze trails upwards to the squared jaw and pink lips. Gajeel feels warm and hurriedly meets those dark blue eyes. Of course, it's him. Only he'd dare to pull his hair like that. Gajeel instinctively scowls at him.

"Why aren't you in class?"

Gajeel takes a step back from him so that he's not craning his neck as much." Why aren't you?" He fires back.

The blonde lazily lifts a hall pass that Gajeel swiftly snatches. He looks at it curiously and scrunches his nose, "what were you doing in the art room." The fact that his name isn't on it catches his attention. "I'm taking this by the way." Just as a safety precaution. Didn't need to get caught and then he's suck with even more detention.

"Nothin' that concerns you, gimme the pass back," Laxus demands, gaze flickering down to Gajeel's shirt before he reaches towards him.

The small paper is quickly shoved into his pocket and Gajeel smirks, "hell no, I need it more than you do. Just go to class I'm sure they'll just let you in." He's quick to wave the taller boy off, turning around about to walk off. He doesn't get far because he's yanked back _by his fucking hair again._ The fact that he kinda likes that shit is quickly overlooked when he sees Laxus' face hovering over his.

"Gimme the pass back." His face is as bored looking as ever, but the little twinkle of amusement in his eyes annoys Gajeel like no other.

"Fuck you."

He changes tune fast enough when Laxus lowers his hand, forcing his head to crane backward even more.

"Goddamn it, Sparky."Gajeel complains, "you don't even need it!"

"I do." He doesn't, not really. There's a substitute teacher after all. They're usually more lenient than the regular teachers.

Gajeel growls, much like a wild animal and Laxus shouldn't find that as attractive as he does.

"I'm not giving it back." He states tenaciously, staring directly into Laxus' eyes, just daring him to do something about it.

He does.

Laxus steps forward, just maneuvering Gajeel like he's a puppet or something before he sticks his hand into his pocket. The wrong pocket at that. In fact, he doesn't even seem to be searching for the pass if the way he's just pawing at his thigh means anything.

Gajeel feels his cheeks warm and he slaps a hand over the blonde's wrist, gripping it tightly. " The hell are you doin'? It's clearly not in there."

"How was I supposed to know that?"

"You fuckin' saw where I put it!"

"Did I?"

Neither of them says anything for a moment before Laxus squeezes his thigh. Gajeel grits his teeth, not allowing whatever the hell sound crawl out of his throat.

 _Ping!_

The sound is loud and clear in the empty halls. Gajeel hears subtle shifting-was this bastard just gonna answer a text while holding him here?!

During all this Gajeel learns that the blonde doesn't keep his phone on vibrate, he types slow as shit and he's a huge dickhead.

Ah, he actually knew that last one already.

Suddenly he's being released and pushed forward. Gajeel scowl and looks over his shoulder at him. There's a little smirk on Laxus' face, the corner of his mouth quirked upwards. It simultaneously pisses him off and makes his heartbeat speed up. Those ruby eyes narrow and Gajeel snarls, "Fuck you." He doesn't hesitate to stalk off this time (He absolutely does not run away, thank you very much). Why was he let go? No idea, but he's getting as far away from him as he can right now.

"Go to class, Gajeel," Laxus calls as he begins walking back to his own class, wondering if Gajeel even recognized what he was wearing.

The darker haired boy doesn't say anything, his shoulders hunching as he angrily shoves his hands in his pocket. With his cheeks warm and heart beating out of his chest, he scowls even more.

Like hell was he going to do anything that bastard said.

-MYOB-

"Have you noticed that Gajeel smells funny?"

Lucy blinks, thrown off from the sudden comment." What do you mean? Like, he stinks?" She asks giving what happens to be a very disapproving frown.

"No! I'm not saying he stinks, just that he smells…" Natsu pauses and crosses his arms, thinking of a word." _Weird_." He finishes lamely.

The blonde shakes her head, locks shifting with her movements. "Nope."

"Agh! This has been botherin' me all day!" He groans, running a hand through his pink hair," he doesn't smell like he usually does! It's like a tangy scent? Kinda like rust or something and fabric softener."

It's the last class of the day and the different smell has been irritating him. Normally he wouldn't give a crap but he knew the new smell, but he just couldn't figure it out!

"...Why do you know what he usually smells like?" Her thin brows are furrowed and one of her eyes are squinted. She shifts away from him a bit, "You are _so strange._ "

Natsu sputters and scowls at her, distracted for the time being. "Me? You're the real weirdo here."

"Says the one memorizing the way his friends smell."

"Natsu does what now?"

The two look up at Cana who's got a brow quirked and a wry smile on her face. The class is slowly filling up with the other students.

Lucy grins and leans forward on her desk," He's going crazy because Gajeel 'smells different' today."

The tall girl laughs as she takes her seat in front of the two, straddling the chair backwards so that she's facing them. After propping up her arm she leans against her own palm, ready to talk."Oh man, I forgot that he does that from time to time."

Lucy's jaw drops," He's done this before?" She doesn't know why she's so surprised, Natsu is one of the most peculiar people she's ever met. One of the best too.

"Uh huh, that one there has the nose of a dog."

Natsu grins and looks at Lucy smugly, hooking an arm around her shoulder and pulling her in."I told ya' it wasn't weird."

"That's not what she said." She laughs, nudging him with an elbow. "Just because you apparently sniff your friends often doesn't mean it's not weird."

"Yeah, but it's not." Natsu protests insistently and takes a huge whiff of her hair.

"Totally normal."

"Get off of me you weirdo!" Lucy laughs, the two of them beginning to grapple playfully.

Cana shakes her head in amusement before she turns around in her seat, they're both weirdoes. It's probably why they get along so well. "Maybe it's just a new soap or cologne?" She suggests flippantly as she pulls out the homework from last night, getting ready to speed through the answers.

"Yeah, maybe…" Natsu mumbles and strokes his hairless chin, his arm still draped over Lucy. Next time he sees Gajeel he's definitely asking him about it.

-MYOB-

The rest of the day flies by and soon the end of the day announcements are blaring over the intercoms. Lucy is already sitting in the library where the detention was being held. The blonde seemed pretty content as her pencil glided across the paper of her notebook. This was just like being in study hall! She alternates between reading her textbook and formulating her ideas down on her paper.

"Hi, Lucy!"

Brown eyes flicker up to meet bright blue and she smiles, looking almost surprised. She had nearly forgotten about the fight (that she started) and almost asked what the gentle girl was doing here. "Hey, Mira." She keeps her voice quiet, glancing around. Students had begun filing into the library, some looking much like troublemakers. Among them, she spots Gajeel. It makes her laugh softly. Of course, he would blend right in with them.

"Whatcha working on?" Mira asks, taking the seat next to the blonde. She leans close to her, their shoulders bumping as she peeks down at the papers sprawled out on the table.

Lucy grins and looks at her, cheeks going a bit pink at how close the other girl was."I have an English paper due on Monday. Just getting my rough draft together."

Mira nods and smiles back," Oh, Good luck on your paper then!"

"Thanks, Mira!"

Lucy soon goes back to her paper, getting back into her zone. She doesn't even notice Mr. Conbolt enter the library, ending all of the chatter in the library.

Fifteen minutes in Mira finds that Detention is as boring as it always is. She pouts, hands cupping her own cheeks as she leans against the table. She didn't want to bother Lucy when she was working so hard and was so focused, but _it was so boring._ Her gaze trails around the room and she blinks a few times when she sees Evergreen of all people discreetly texting underneath the table. Mira's lips quirk up into a little smile wondering what she did to get in here.

She continues her looking around until she spots familiar wild hair. He was seated a few tables away from them, his head buried in her arms. Mira stares at him for a moment and ends up covering her mouth to muffle her giggles. Earlier at lunch, she'd noticed that he was wearing quite a familiar piece of clothing. The shirt was large even on his muscled frame, and while she knew the band from a certain blonde, what really gave it away was the faded words written on the chest of the shirt.

 **luve u laxxy**

It had been written by Cana a while ago. Mira's shoulders begin to shake, barely containing her excited giggles. That was so cute! She needed to talk to Laxus soon, she hadn't even known they were close enough to share clothes.

Her laughter slowly eases down and she realizes the teacher is giving her a look.

She smiles apologetically and ducks her head slightly. Ah, she just couldn't wait! The girl slips her phone out, taking a hint from Ever and hiding it under the table.

 **Woman** : _laxus why didnt you tell me about you and gajeel? My feelings are hurt!_

 **Woman** : _I thought we were better than this_

* * *

In the middle of the sidewalk, Bixlow rambling about one thing or another, Laxus' eyebrows furrow as he stares down at his phone. What the hell was she talking about? What about him and Gajeel?

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, tell me what you think or even what I could do better!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Finally updated! I'm glad you guys think they're in character :D I hope ur enjoying the story**

* * *

 **Lax!** : what are u talking about

Oh? He's going to play like he doesn't know? That's fine.

 **Woman** : he's wearing your shirt!

 **Lax!:** yeah

Mira is quickly reminded of why she hates texting Laxus. His responses are so plain and she can't get a read on him. While it was the same when talking face to face at least she could look at him and have an idea of what he was feeling.

 **Lax!** : y do u care

 **Woman** : it's nice that you guys finally settled your differences!

 **Lax!** : we're not doing this

Aw damn, he caught on too fast. She lets out a little huff of laughter. and glances upwards to check if anyone was looking. With the coast clear she continues texting.

 **Woman:** doing what? :)

 **Lax!** : u know what and aren't u in detention stop texting me

 **Lax!** : delinquent

Mirajane rolls her eyes and slips her phone back into her bag because she already knows he's not going to answer to anything else she says.

Thus, she turns back to Lucy and her eyebrows raise in surprise at how much the blonde girl has written down in such a short amount of time. She watches as her hand moves across the paper and how she moves a lock of blonde hair behind her ear without looking up.

Mira smiles widely, feeling strangely inspired by her vigor and hard working spirit. She was such a good student!

With a little nod of determination, she gets her hands back on her phone and pulls up the messenger app once more.

 **Woman** : I have no idea what you're talking about so let's talk after I get out of detention!

She sends an influx of emoji hearts and smiley faces.

When she finally receives a text after a good 20 minutes of waiting she can feel his disdain through the screen.

 **Lax!** : no.

Aw, it was so cute that he still thought that anything he said could stop her from doing what she wanted.

 **Woman** : See you soon bb! I only have 30 minutes left :)

 **Lax!** : fuck off

 **Woman** : 3 I'll grab something to eat while we talk too, okay?

 **Lax!** : k.

-MYOB-

Even though he had his head buried in his arms he could just feel eyes boring into him. No matter how many times he glared in return all he got was a cheeky little smile and she'd look away at her phone for the time being.

Eventually, he rests his chin on his crossed arms, his glare relaxed into a scorn-filled stare. She had taken it as the challenge it was and had been staring back. The more he looked at her the more irritating he found her smile to be. Gajeel lifts his hand slightly, flipping her off. He was two for one. Now all that was left was Elfman, then he'd be able to say flipped off the entire Strauss family.

What he's not expecting is for the oldest sibling to laugh softly before doing it right back. The smile on her face widens until her shoulders are shaking from her silent laughter. He looked so offended!

Mira covers her mouth as a soft snort escapes and she leans down until her forehead is touching the wooden table.

During her laughing fit, she misses the way Lucy glances up from her work looking entirely confused. She looks around and spots Gajeel practically seething in their general direction. She shoots him a slightly nervous grin because while they are friends (and they are no matter what he says!) he looks like he wants to thrash them around... or maybe just Mira.

What's wrong? She mouths, as she carefully sets her pencil down next to her textbook.

If possible he shoots her an even more aggressive look. It takes her a moment until she remembers that Gajeel can't read lips. Lucy frowns slightly and makes what she hopes is an apologetic gesture.

At this point, Gajeel begins to look confused.

Lucy bites her lip, thinking of a way to get him to understand. It takes a few seconds before She perks up and begins writing out the letters in the air.

It takes a few tries before she sees Gajeel mouthing the word 'what' to himself.

She grins and nods before continuing. She uses her pointer finger, drawing out the W with the care of someone trying to recreate the Disney channel logo.

Just as she's drawing the line for the R she hears,

"Care to tell me what exactly it is that you're doing Lucy?"

She flinches slightly, gaze jerking towards the front of the room and meeting Mr. Conbolt's vaguely amused gaze.

"Oh! Uh…" she hurriedly places her hand back in her lap, cheeks warming as everyone's eyes turn to her.

Mira who had finally calmed down sees her flustered expression and promptly bursts into loud giggles.

Lucy sighs, a bizarre mix of embarrassed and fond exasperation as scattered laughter fills the room. In the mix of all that she can distinctly hear Gajeel call her a "dumbass".

Mira leans against her laughter finally subsiding. Her cheeks are a happy pink as Mr. Conbolt shakes his head and dismisses them.

"You kids get outta here! Be careful on your way home and try not to get into any more trouble." He waves them off, and as Lucy packs up her books and papers she frowns disapprovingly as she sees all the suddenly empty chairs placed messily.

They could have at least pushed them in before leaving.

"C'mon Lucy!" The blonde snaps out of her judging as Mira loops their arms together, guiding the way out of the library.

Lucy grins and tries to push in as many chairs as she can as they walk past.

-MYOB-

"What were you doing with the whole-" Mirajane begins mimicking the way Lucy's air writing from before.

"Oh, uh," she laughs a bit "I was trying to see what was wrong with Gajeel. He looked like he wanted to kill us- well, just you, I think." Lucy gives a sheepish smile, glancing at Mira only to see her seemingly looking for someone in the small crowd of students. Lucy looks as well, trying to find that wild black hair but it seems he was in a hurry.

The older girl shoots her a little mischievous smile.

Lucy squints at her, " Mira were you teasing him?"

She blinks her baby blues, just looking oh so innocent," Me? Of course not."

Lucy snorts and Mira breaks character, and laughs softly," Maybe just a little bit." She finally admits.

Before Lucy can say anything more Mira perks up and lifts a hand and waves," Ever! Hi!" The blonde girl allows herself to be pulled along, watching how Evergreen looks over her shoulder.

It looks like the girl is debating whether she should stop or not but it seems like she's feeling kind today as she stops and turns around.

"Hello, you two." She wiggles her fingers, her nails neatly manicured with an expression that says she's indulging them by letting them speak to her.

"Hi Evergreen." Lucy greets politely.

"It's rare seeing you away from your merry band of idiots," Evergreen notes as she adjusts her bag.

"Right back at ya'." The blonde quirks a brow, "What did you do to get detention?"

"I threw a textbook at Bicks."

Mira furrows her brows and Lucy blinks not expecting that to be the reason.

"Evergreen," Mira starts in a scolding manner however she's cut off as Ever lifts a hand in a 'stop' motion.

"If you haven't noticed you were in detention as well. Don't even try to lecture me when you're in the same boat."

Mira pouts and Evergreen rolls her eyes," Anyways, I need to get going. See you two tomorrow, toodles."

"Actually I'm going to tag along with you Ever, I need to talk to Laxus about something."

Evergreen purses her lips before nodding a bit, "Fine. Whatever."

Mira smiles and gives a Lucy a goodbye hug before she hurries along to follow after Evergreen who had already begun walking away.

-MYOB-

As promised the girl stops to grab some food, Evergreen quirking a brow at the amount.

"Well there's you, Freed, and Bickslow too."

Evergreen rolls her eyes." I can pay for my own stuff." She tells her. In fact, she hadn't even asked for anything. She shakes her head, brown locks bouncing with the movement. "I'll help you out just this once." She offers even though Mira hadn't complained about the price once.

The white-haired girl only smiles," Thanks Ever."

-MYOB-

"And I've been thinking about practicing more on makeup, like yours is always really pretty I've been meaning to ask you about where you get You eyeshadow and stuff from."

"The cosmetics shop in the mall on the second floor."

Mira talks the whole way there and Evergreen answers back every now and then, letting the other girl carry the conversation that she hadn't even been planning to have. It's pleasant enough and not too annoying but when they reach the apartment and head inside Evergreen doesn't hesitate to grab her food and head to her room.

The white-haired girl is all hugs and jovial like she hadn't seen them earlier at school.

After distributing the bags(earning her a "thanks, baby" from Bickslow) she follows laxus into his room, eager to talk to him and get her grub on because this food was smelling amazing.

Laxus grumbles a fair amount for someone in his position and glares when Mira peers at him expectantly.

"So…"

"So, what?"

The girl grins and gets comfortable, "you and Gajeel. Spill."

"There's nothin' to spill," He mutters taking a hefty scoop of rice.

"Oh, you're not going to make this easy, huh."

Laxus shoots her a little smirk," when do I ever?"

Mira rolls her eyes, keeping a hand hovering under her spoon as she eats. "C'mooon," she whines," I brought you your favorite and aren't we best friends-"

"No."

"Yes, we are, which means that you should tell me all about your love life!"

He cracks eventually like he always does.

Mira learns that Laxus totally has a crush ( "I don't have a crush on him, you bitch.") and that they're sadly not dating.

But!

She believes in the power of love and the power of Laxus! He's not exactly the sweetest, and his personality needs work, in fact, he's a bit of a jerk. But so is Gajeel so that won't even be a problem. Nonetheless, she believes!

Besides they're already at the sharing clothes stage and she feels it in her heart that they'll succeed in their romance if the way Laxus' eyes light up when he receives a text from Gajeel is anything to go by.

It's cute the way he smiles slightly until he notices her looking and immediately reverts back to his 'I'm too cool for emotions' gaze.

She teases him mercilessly as they eat and even more when he walks her home.

"Try to keep your big mouth shut about this, yeah?"

"Of course! I'm rooting for you Lax." Mira smiles sweetly.

Laxus rolls his eyes and tells her to get inside as he begins to make his way back home.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, tell me what you think or even what I could do better!**

 **P.s just so there's no confusion in the last chapter gajeel didn't have a text message name bc juvia never saved his number as anything**


	4. Chapter 4

**:D Chapter 4!**

* * *

It's early morning, the sun hasn't even risen up yet and there's a sense of quiet in the usually moderately noisy household. His eyes are half closed as he shovels cereal that was steadily going soggy into his mouth. He's half listening to Rogue and Wendy's quiet voices as they shuffle about in the kitchen. In all fairness, he's barely awake from staying up all night texting Juvia about dumb boy problems. So he thinks it's entirely fair that when he first hears Rogue's quiet question he believes he's hallucinating, just hearing things.

"What."

His brother doesn't bat an eyelash at how milk trails out of his mouth and down his chin but his red eyes- well eye, his dumb bang covering one of them- are determined as he looks at him. (although there was a little twitch in his eyebrow)

Rogue blinks and bluntly repeats his question,

"Are you dating Laxus?"

Wendy peeks at him from her spot by the stove, only one of her ponytails done as she scrambles some eggs. It's clear she's trying to be discreet but it's not really working with her pink cheeks and how her gaze flickers away whenever she thinks Gajeel is looking at her.

His mind is blank and he just stares for a moment, looking the most dumbfounded they've ever seen him.

" _What._ "

Rogue frowns as his toast finally pops out.

"What do you mean what, yes or no?"

Gajeel furiously chews before swallowing, immediately spewing curses once his mouth is no longer full.

"What the _fuck_ did you just say to me? what kinda bullshit- Shut the fuck up Rogue, it's too early for this."

Rogue frowns as he stares at him.

"Hm." He sniffs, "you know, me and Wendy saw your text messages." (Oddly enough they learned that Laxus is terrible at it, his messages full of typos and kind of ominous in general.)

The brown-eyed girl lets out what could only be classified as a squawk as she looks at Rogue with alarm.

"We-we didn't mean to! Your phone was on the couch just out in the open- I'm sorry!"

Gajeel scowls, finally wiping at the milk on his face. "Stay outta my shit." He growls, standing up and snatching the younger boys toast out of spite as he stomps out of the kitchen.

Rogue frowns even more as he pats Wendy (who looked entirely too distressed) on the head and calmly places another piece of bread in the toaster.

"He didn't answer the question."

-MYOB-

It's still early morning, the sun finally up and the streets slowly beginning to buzz as the townspeople start their day.

And there's a boy knocking at the door.

-MYOB-

Someone opens the door. It's a girl. She's younger, her dark hair done in twin ponytails and she's wearing the uniform of the neighboring middle school. Her brown eyes are wide in surprise as she looks up at him.

"Good morning." She finally offers a smile, snapping out of her stupor, "do you want me to get Gajeel?"

His eyebrows furrow as he stares down at her. When the hell did Gajeel get a sister, was she always around? He knew he had a brother. Didn't remember what his name was and he had a vague idea of what he looked like.

But at least he actually has a memory of seeing him before. For the life of him, he couldn't remember this kid.

The girl starts fidgeting, beginning to look a little nervous.

"Um-"

"Who are you?" Laxus interrupts.

The girl pauses and wilts, her shoulders slumping just a bit. Such a pathetic display almost warrants some guilt.

Almost.

"My names Wendy."

Doesn't ring a bell but he only nods before walking past her and entering the house uninvited.

"Which way is Gajeel's room."

"Uh…" Wendy points to the left, looking a bit scandalized as she softly shuts the door." The last door." She adds, watching as the tall boy walks through their house like he's lived there all his life.

She follows him, stopping at the door to her room. She still needed to get her books together. "What-um, what are you doing?"

Laxus looks back at her, quirking a brow. "We have school." He tells her in a deadpan way before he opens Gajeel's room door and invites himself in.

Oh, okay. She guesses this is just something they're doing now.

Wendy stares at the door as the one next to her room opens and Rogue pokes his head out.

"Who was that?"

"Erm, Laxus came over." She tells him, cheeks going a bit pink as she remembers what happened just 20 minutes ago in the kitchen.

Rogue nods a bit. "Hm...he came all this way to walk with Gajeel?"

Just as he finishes speaking Gajeel's door flies open and he's doing his best to manhandle the larger boy out of his room. He looks a bit flustered, probably thrown off guard by seeing the blonde in his house and furthering Rogue's suspicions.

He pauses when he sees his siblings in the hallway. Gajeel immediately scowls even more.

"Who let him in?"

Wendy begins to look guilty again but Laxus unknowingly saves her.

"Doesn't matter, I'm already here. Hurry up and put your shit on."

"Nobody's talkin' to you." Gajeel shoves him again and Laxus' body sways a bit.

-MYOB-

Laxus is forced to wait in the living room as the siblings get ready. When they're finally finished he sees Rogue. He and Gajeel resemble each other more than the little girl he noted.

"Oi, come on."

Gajeel begins pushing at him again, and Laxus allows it, mildly complaining about him being 'more handsy than usual'.

During the walk Laxus offers Gajeel one of his earphones, grunting "Listen."

They walk to school shoulder to shoulder, practically forgetting about the younger two behind them.

Rogue and Wendy observe.

-MYOB-

Gajeel's not exactly sure when it started. Their tentative friendship he means, maybe it was during the end of summer of last year. In that time where you try to do as much as possible before having to go back to school. Any animosity between them had disappeared years ago instead indifference took its place.

It wasn't until their busy body friends began rounding everyone up for "last minute memories" that they began seeing more of each other, naturally gravitating towards each other. Before they knew it they were exchanging numbers and following each other's social media. Their friendship was a quiet thing, neither of them really one for words. It was full of elbow nudges and bemused smirks. Shared headphones and silent judging of each other's musical tastes.

Their friendship snuck up on everyone, including them.

Somewhere along the way, they began standing just a little too close and hanging out a little too much. Naturally having friends as nosy as theirs, questions were bound to arise.

-MYOB-

Today they had chosen to eat lunch in the courtyard. It was the usual group; Lucy, Gray, Mirajane, Natsu, and Levy. The only person that was missing was Gajeel but every now and then he just disappeared and at this point, nobody questioned him not being there. It was an established agreement that he'd show up at some point.

It's not too long that Gajeel does show up, however, he's not alone.

(He hasn't been all day, she realizes.)

Levy watches with wide eyes, mesmerized by what she was seeing. His ruby eyes were twinkling with a little mischievous smile on his face, the barest hint of teeth peeking from between his lips. The two are walking towards the table, shoulders bumping occasionally. He was talking to Laxus but they're too far for her to hear what they're talking about but they both look…

The short girl feels her cheeks flush at the fond look on Laxus' face when he glances down at Gajeel. It's not the first time she's seen him with that soft smile. More often than not it's directed towards Freed, Evergreen, and Bickslow. Sometimes Mira. However, she can't say she's seen him look so sweet on someone. It feels like she's intruding just by looking but she can't look away from some reason.

It's just then that dark blue eyes snap towards her. The sudden gaze makes her flinch in surprise. She hurriedly looks away, while that wasn't exactly a glare it wasn't a nice look either.

Her face does a thing where it looked she just stubbed her toe again a table leg. And while she is absolutely not scared of Laxus in any way shape or form she will admit that he has perfected the art of staring someone down. It's intimidating, seeing just how cold those eyes could get.

When they reach the table the rest of the group greets them boisterously, Levy taking a quick peek as she mumbles a quiet," Hi you guys."

There's an increase in chatter for a few moments and She gives a little sigh of relief when she doesn't feel his intense gaze on her, in fact, when she looks up she doesn't even see him at the table anymore. Her brown eyes glance around until she spots the blonde walking back into the school building. Her brows furrow and she raises her voice over her friend's chatter," Where's Laxus going?"

Now that she was thinking about it he didn't even have first lunch, so what the heck had he been doing here?

"Said somethin' about having to see Gramps," Natsu informs her while stealing food from whoever was within reach.

Levy nods and her brows furrow even more as she puts the pieces together," So he just came to drop Gajeel off?" Her question rings loud and clear, conversations dying down just enough that Grays snort could be heard with no problem.

Her gaze darts to Gajeel who was already scowling." You talkin' shit shorty?" Seems like he went into defense mode.

Oops.

Levy immediately begins trying to do damage control. "Wha-no, it was just an observation!"

"I mean that is what he did though." Lucy pipes up rather unnecessarily in Levy's opinion.

Levy can practically see Gajeel's hair prickle like a porcupine as the other two boys chime in, beginning to tease him. He's already reaching towards Natsu, ready to flip his tray over with no hesitation.

And then like an angel Mira swoops in,

"You guys have been spending a lot of time together right?" She's smiling so sweetly that just looking for too long would give you a cavity." I'm happy my friends are getting closer!"

"Right you guys? Isn't that great?"

There's a tone in her voice that makes everyone agree (probably because it sounds like one of Erza's threats), allowing her to steer the conversation into another direction.

Levy sighs softly and looks over at Gajeel, who still looked pretty miffed. Ah, she felt bad now, she'd have to apologize for putting him on the spot like that.

After that, the rest of the lunch passes pretty quickly. Natsu manages to fall off of one of the other tables after a rather embarrassing display of a dance he'd watched on YouTube. Gray somehow falls when he wasn't even up there. From Gajeel's satisfied expression she can already guess what happened. She's really sure when Natsu tries to get up and Gajeel shoves him back onto the ground.

Nobody mentions the Laxus thing again, at least not in front of Gajeel and Mira.

Unbeknownst to the white-haired girl, her intervening had only stirred more curiosity in the others. And even more irritation in the one she'd been trying to defend because he sure as hell didn't need her protecting him from those idiots.

-MYOB-

"So, what do you think is going on with those two?" A deep voice drawls out, interrupting Levy's walk back to class.

Levy glances to her right, seeing Lucy and Gray. The two were usually some of the more sensible of their ragtag group.

"Hm? Who?" She asks, eyes narrowing a bit.

Gray rolls his eyes." You know who."

The blonde gives a little grin, "Moody and moodier, of course." She does a little skip forward, hooking her arm around Levy's." Mira seemed pretty defensive of their friendship, ya' know?"

Levy shrugs a bit, biting her bottom lip." Maybe. But she's always been defensive about things including Laxus so maybe that's it?"

Their relationship mostly consisted of Mira trying to protect the blondes virtue. She did a terrible job of it though because even she knew Laxus could be a dick, however, along the year's everyone grew to consider her an unofficial member of the 'Thunder legion'.

"Mira's also always been a pretty big gossip as well," Gray adds, side-eyeing her. And that was true Mira was quite the gossip even though her intentions were always good. She was just a chatterbox like that, talking about any and everything when she was especially happy or proud.

The short girl frowns a bit and looks between them." Well, what's going on with you two? You're not usually so...nosy."

"Nosy? We- We're not being nosy!" The blonde girl stammers.

Gray snorts, "Lucy is very nosy and I want some drama in my life."

"Gray!"

He shrugs," Just kiddin'. It's just that nothing else is going on. Besides you've gotta admit it is a little weird that they suddenly started hanging out with the way they hated each other."

Levy gives a little wry grin," Well they both hated everyone at some point."

"Moody and moodier," Lucy repeats with a little nod. She pauses for a moment and purses her lips."Well...people do change so maybe it's not that odd?"

There's a moment where they all seem to be in agreement.

"They're totally dating."

Of course, it's ruined but those couple of seconds were nice while they lasted.

Levy sputters and Lucy's cheeks go a light pink."...you really think so?"

"Wha-Lucy! Don't feed into Gray's gossip!" Levy scolds, her hands on her hips as she looks between the two of them.

The blonde laughs sheepishly as Gray smirks, "She came over here with me to gossip. Don't pretend that she's innocent."

Terrible! These two were just as terrible as everyone else.

The short girl lightly fiddles with the clasp of her satchel." Well, if you two are so adamant about figuring out whether they're dating or not," she begins, the two leaning further in with raised eyebrows "Cana started this conspiracy theory that they started dating earlier this year," she starts "when we all went to the movies to see that really lame horror movie?"

"She says she saw them whispering and laughing with each other. And a bunch of others are betting on it and even pitching in their own theories." She admits.

"Others like you?" Gray questions and Levy's cheeks turn a little pink.

"Of course not!"

Two sets of eyes stare at her and her shoulders hunch, "I mean I never bet on it so does it really count?" Levy mumbles.

Lucy's shocked laughter makes her try to make herself even smaller, "what was that about feeding into gossip? Hm? You little hypocrite!"

Levy laughs as Lucy ruffles her hair," I'm not! It's just everyone's theories were so interesting."

Gray huffs out a little laugh himself.

"Oh yeah? You can tell us all about the rest of them on the way to class."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading, tell me what you think or even what I could do better!**


End file.
